Black Friday, the biggest retail day in the US, has been a boon for gun sales in recent years – but that’s a problem for the small FBI division handling background checks, as more sales slip through the cracks each year.

Typically, the 500 men and women checking the criminal and mental
histories of potential buyers can keep up with demand. But on the
busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, they are swamped
by approximately 145,000 background check requests.

Combined with the fact that they are also up against a tight
deadline – with only three business days to carry out the check
before the gun is released for sale – their job becomes even
tougher. Last year, they failed to process two percent of the
145,000 requests, meaning close to 3,000 guns were sold without a
background check. This year, the FBI is hiring 100 more personnel
to deal with the onslaught.

The National Criminal Background Check System (NICS) in West
Virginia does about 58,000 checks on a typical day – a figure
that triples on Black Friday. Athough stores can use the FBI’s
online E-Check System, nearly half the checks are called in to
three call centers in Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia. Call
center operators check individuals against their name, address,
birth date, and Social Security Number.

There are 48,000 gun retailers in the US, from Walmart to local
pawn shops. In one instance, a woman handled a dealer with 99
potential sales on a call that took four hours.

"Rules had to be stretched," recalled Sam Demarco, her
supervisor. "We can't transfer calls. Someone had to sit in
her seat for her while she went to the bathroom."

The federal government is often criticized in gun control
debates, but the FBI says states are where the problem lies, as
they are only required to voluntarily submit records. Often
records are missing vital information like criminal convictions
and mental health rulings, and states fail to routinely update
records when restraining orders are issued.

While the majority of checks are approved, red flags occur in
around 29 percent of cases due to felony convictions,
dishonorable military discharges, histories of domestic violence,
or instances of undocumented immigration. When a buyer is
flagged, an examiner steps in.

"It takes a lot of effort...for an examiner to go out and
look at court reports, look at judges' documents, try to find a
final disposition so we can get back to a gun dealer on whether
they can sell that gun or not," Del Greco said. "And we
don't always get back to them."

People can buy guns without a background check in many states,
through gun shows or from individuals. During the last mid-term
election, the state of Washington voted to close the loophole for
buying firearms at gun shows without a background check. These
precautions are necessary, according to advocates of background
checks.

Someone is killed in the US every 16 minutes by a gun. A June
analysis by CNN showed that a school shooting had occurred about
once every five weeks over the previous 18 months.